Woman says she survived attack by accused serial killer Anthony Sowell

CLEVELAND - A woman stunned to see accused serial killer Anthony Sowell's face on television said she was attacked by him years ago.

She said the image made her body tremble. It transported her back decades to a fall night in East Cleveland, where a nightmare that she has been trying to forget for more than 20 years all began.

"His face was plastered on it, I stopped and I was in shock, really in shock. I was looking at the guy who raped me 20 some years ago, this is the man who stole my life from me," said the woman who only wanted to be identified by her nickname, Lisa.

The now 46-year-old said accused serial killer Anthony Sowell raped her when she was just 23. The night started, she said, when the two of them were having a couple of beers outside an apartment building that used to be in East Cleveland. It was dubbed "animal house" by police because it was known for trouble.

Lisa said they walked a short distance, she had to use a restroom, and that's when she said Sowell walked her to a parking lot and wooded area behind a restaurant. Then, she said, he started choking her, dragging her to the ground and raping her.

Lisa said she is convinced that she was going to die that night. She said she promised she wouldn't tell anyone.

"I convinced him to get my clothes, he turned around and I ran away with just socks and shoes," said Lisa.

She said she never contacted police for fear that she wouldn't have been believed. Lisa said that's just what happened. A few years ago, she said she told her story to a corrections officer but he didn't believe her.

The assault and trauma, Lisa said, sent her down a path of drug and alcohol addiction. She moved to South Carolina and said she turned her life around. Lisa said she's been drug-free for six years.

Lisa filed a police report in East Cleveland a few weeks ago. She said she has some closure now, perhaps the rest will come in a Cuyahoga County courtroom.

"Justice will be served one way or another, God is the one to punish him," she said.